


and i say i'm through (but this song is still for you)

by ashleygail



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miscommunication, Unrequited Love, and they were ROOMMATES, idiots to lovers, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:19:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29192169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleygail/pseuds/ashleygail
Summary: Richie had decided he was okay with Eddie seeing this guy, getting a little dick action. Everybody deserved to have those experiences, and Eddie had never given it a chance in college like everybody else did. Maybe it still hurt a little bit whenever Eddie went out and didn’t come until the morning, and there was the permanent ache in his chest all the time- but really! He was fine! Eddie was his best bro, his roommate. Richie needed to shut off that switch in his head that thought he and Eddie could have ever been together, let go of that stupid fantasy, and he wasn’t going to get there by running away and hiding like Stan had suggested.Maybe he was acting strange, he knew he’d closed himself off a little bit. He could see it in how he’d catch Beverly staring at him from the corner of her eye, how Eddie seemed to deflate whenever Richie brushed off his attempts to hang out. Patty sent him a text a week earlier to ask him why he’d listened to You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift for four hours straight and he’d ignored it, read receipts be damned. He really was fine, aside from how he wasn’t fine at all and wasn’t doing a good job at pretending he was.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Mike Hanlon, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	and i say i'm through (but this song is still for you)

It was the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday that Richie Tozier’s life skidded to a stop, in the middle of an overly crowded Starbucks. As much as Richie claims to crave chaos, and sometimes it was fun, he had grown into a man of routine in his twenties and he and Eddie got coffee at this Starbucks every morning before they split up to go to their separate classes or work. Well, Eddie got a coffee and Richie got whatever sweet drink caught his eye that day. He liked the routine, he liked all of his and Eddie’s routines. 

Of course Eddie had to ruin it, without even realizing he was. 

“I have a date on Friday. I’ll have to miss movie night.” He said, not looking back from his phone. He didn’t see the way Richie’s face paled and barely noticed how he whipped around to stare at him. 

Richie started tapping his foot on the ground, reaching up to tug at his earlobe. “Oh really?” He was trying to keep his voice light, not to let up how his heart raced and his stomach had dropped out. 

Eddie shrugged. “It’s about time, don’t you think?” He looked up at Richie with those stupid wide brown eyes and his cheeks turned pink. “It’s been almost two years since I broke up with Myra. I have to put myself back out there sometime.”

Richie swallowed. Eddie had dated a girl for nearly two years after they’d started college, but Eddie had spent almost the entire relationship feeling awkward and uncomfortable until he’d finally ended things and come out to people in his life. It had been the final nail in the coffin of his relationship with his mother, but Richie had never been more proud of him. “Right, well. Good for you, Eds. I gotta go.”

Richie had already stepped out of the line, and was rushing towards the front exit before Eddie even had a chance to process what his best friend had said. “Wait, Richie-:”

But Richie was already hauling ass down the crowded New York streets, right past the subway entrance he needed and all the way up the street. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket but he didn’t stop to check it, didn’t stop until he was bursting into the front door of his work, sweaty and out of breath. 

“Whoa there, Tozier.” Stanley Uris blinked as his coworker and friend came stumbling into the building, wheezing. Stan had gotten Richie this job their sophomore year of college, and acted like he regretted it everyday. “First of all, you’re late. Why do you look like you got mugged?” 

Richie just wheezed and rolled his eyes. Stan’s stoic expression shifted slightly as he looked at him, a glimpse of concern dancing under the surface of his features. “Please tell me you didn’t actually get mugged. I’d feel bad.”

“No need to emote, Stan the Man.” Richie said, still slightly out of breath. “No mugging here. Just a little emotional devastation. Might go lay in traffic and see what happens.”

“Wait until after the shift you’re late for.” Stan tossed Richie an apron from behind the counter, which he promptly fumbled and dropped to the ground. Once Richie picked it up and slumped behind the counter, Stan gave him a small half smile. “What’s up, Rich?”

Stan was his best friend he supposed. 

“Eddie has a date this weekend.”

Stan blinked and a short silence settled over the small bakery for a moment. “Eddie, your boyfriend Eddie?”

Richie choked on nothing and shook his head frantically. “No, no, Eddie and I- we’re just friends, roommates. Well, I thought that maybe..”

At the end of the day, the only person Richie had to blame was himself. He had no business getting comfortable with roommate as though they’d ever be anything more than that. Maybe they’d been growing so much closer since moving in together, flirting and touching but that didn’t mean anything. Eddie certainly didn’t owe him anything, it wasn’t fair of Richie to stomp around and be childish about it. He was a grown man, and so was Eddie. He could handle a little unreciprocated love and what Eddie didn’t know won’t hurt him. 

“Are you okay?” Stan asked, voice gentle and uncharacteristically soft. Well, uncharacteristic for talking to Richie. 

“Yeah.” Richie said. “Got to be, don’t I?”

Stan opened his mouth to reply but a group of high school girls came in giggling and they didn’t slow down for the rest of the afternoon. Whatever good and respectable advice Stan was going to give him got lost in the bustle. 

Richie wasn’t able to check his phone until his shift ended, and by then Eddie was about halfway through his three hour lecture. The rest of the Losers had graduated the year before, but Eddie was stuck behind for another two years after switching his major after finally cutting ties with his mother and getting to do what he wanted. Eddie seemed happy enough, even with the waste of two years of tuition. 

**Eds Spagheds** : Hey you ran off really fast! Are you okay?   
**Eds Spagheds** : Richie   
**Eds Spagheds:** I’m going to assume it's really busy. Have a good shift! Wanna do pizza for dinner?

Richie sighed. He had to remind himself that Eddie wasn’t doing anything to hurt him, and that he had every right to date if he so chose to. He hadn’t been in a relationship in over two years, and some delusion that Richie had created inside his own head didn't change the truth. 

**Rich** : srry 4got stan asked me to come in early. Pizza sounds gr8 :*

Richie turned his phone on Do Not Disturb, popped in his headphones and let himself get lost in melancholy music staring out the subway windows at dark walls. 

♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥

_“AND I JUST CAN’T IMAGINE HOW YOU COULD FEEL SO OKAY-”_

Eddie was off on his date, not movie with the Losers, no. He was doing dinner with some guy that Richie purposely didn’t remember the name of, from some class that Richie tried to repress. Maybe he was being immature about the whole thing, but there was no doubt he was being dramatic when he’d cancelled on the Losers the second Eddie left their shared apartment and then got into the bath with all his clothes on and began to blare his angstiest, private pining playlist. 

“RED LIGHT, STOP SIGNS, I STILL SEE YOUR FACE IN THE-”

The bathroom door flew open and Richie let out a loud scream. Beverly Marsh and Patty Blum let out matching screams. Richie suddenly realized just _how_ pathetic he must appear, fully clothed in now-cold water with sappy love heartbreak songs blaring through the entire apartment. 

“I could have been naked.” Was the only response Richie could find in himself to muster up. 

Beverly rolled her eyes. “Nothing I haven’t been before, dickhead.” Which was true enough, Beverly was probably Richie’s oldest friend in the entire world- besides Big Bill- and they’d as good as lived in each other’s pockets during high school while Beverly avoided being at home. “Stan told us about Eddie when you both cancelled tonight.”

“At first we thought maybe you’d gotten your shit together and were cancelling so you could spend the entire night rustling around in those hyperallergic sheets Eddie spent way too much money on.” Patty said, letting herself into the bathroom and turning the music off. “Then Stan made us aware that it’s much sadder than that. How could you let this happen?”

Richie bristled. “I didn’t let anything happen!” He cried. “Eddie is allowed to date, it’s not like I can stop him. He has every right to want a relationship.”

Beverly rolled her eyes. “You and Eddie have been doing the stupidest _will they won’t they_ dance for the last five years. It’s unbearable and every time we think you might be getting somewhere, one of you does something stupid. It’s exhausting, really. Are you just going to let him get away?”

She was exaggerating, surely. Richie had only really been crushing on Eddie for a little over a year, since the Hallowe’en party the fall before. Five years was such a reach that Richie almost laughed, probably would have if he hadn’t been so fucking depressed. 

“Okay. Get out.” Beverly stood in front of him with her arms sharply on her hips. “If you’re not going to buckle up and tell Eddie how you feel before you lose your chance, you don’t get to sit around and waste away. So let’s go, up. You’re putting on some dry clothes and coming to movie night. Not a request.”

Richie grumbled and complained loudly, forcing himself into his rattiest pair of skinny jeans and largest sweater he owned. He barely had the chance to force his wet curls into a bun on the top of his head before Patty and Bev were forcing him into the back of Patty’s car. They sang along to the happiest songs loudly the entire way to Bill, Mike and Stan’s shared house, and Richie crossed his arms and pouted the entire way there. He wasn’t going to be a happy camper, that was for sure, and he wasn’t going to put on some show of being okay unless he had to. He was pretty sure he deserved at least one day of mourning what he and Eddie could have had, even if his friends didn’t seem to want to give it to him. 

He threw himself face down onto Mike’s couch, his entire face planting in Bill’s lap. Bill Denbrough was one of the most go with the flow people Richie had ever had the privilege of knowing, just playing with the little baby curls as the base of Richie’s neck. “Hey Trashmouth, how you feeling?”

Richie let out an inhuman noise into Bill’s lap and the group all gave a small round of sympathetic laughter. Ben Hanscom reached behind him and rubbed Richie’s bare ankle.

“It’s gonna be okay, dude.” Ben said. “You and Eddie are like soulmates. Everything will work out. I’m sure of it.”

Richie rolled onto his side, head still cradled in Bill’s lap, and sighed. “You know I usually love your sappy romantic bullshit but right now it makes me want to set you on fire. Kindly.”

Ben let out a small laugh. “Okay, fair enough. But I’ll be here to give it to you when you’re ready.”

“Appreciated.” Richie said. “Let’s just watch a movie. Something shitty, no romcoms.”

They only got about halfway through the movie before Mike’s phone buzzed and he looked up. “Eddie’s date is over, he wants to know if we’re all still around.”

It took Richie a moment to realize that they were waiting for his response. Aside from Bill and Beverly, they’d all met each other during Froshweek five years earlier, it felt a little weird that they were willing to lie to Eddie if Richie asked them to. “Obviously it’s fine. Jesus you guys, I’m not some fragile piece of glass that’s going to shatter under a little heat.”

Stan made a noise from the back of his throat like he didn’t quite believe that, but made no formal argument. Eddie arrived not much later, scooping up Richie’s legs that took up most of the couch and then let drop back down onto his lap.

“How did it go, Eds?” Richie asked, because he was a normal supportive friend who asked normal supportive things of his friends. “Ya get lucky?”

Eddie frowned. “He was nice, I guess… I don’t know. He asked me out again, and I said yes. It feels a little weird. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe I’m just not used to it. I’ve been single for so long. _”_

Bill made a sympathetic noise. “Well, Eddie, you’re lucky you didn’t just end up with some dickhead who only wanted in your pants. That’s what most of us are working with.”

“You mean what most people who go out with _you_ are working with.” Beverly shot with a laugh.

Bill winked at her and blew her a kiss. 

“I don’t understand you,” Stanley said, disgust and admiration entwined together in his voice. “Eddie, it might take more than one date to decide if you like somebody, and that’s okay. Take your time. In the end, what you’re looking for might have been right under your nose all along.”

Richie could have strangled him but Eddie nodded as though it made all the sense in the world. “You’re probably right. It was nice to go out though, get a feel for it, yeah? It was fun.”

The group gave small hums of agreement, and Richie wished to be swallowed through the floor and never reappear.

♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥

Over the course of the next month, Eddie went out with this guy- Jacob- five more times even though every time he came home said he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Richie wasn’t sure why Eddie was putting himself through this, trying to force something into a relationship when he didn’t even want it. He also didn’t know if Eddie had slept with him yet, because despite how uncharacteristic it might be, he couldn’t bring himself to ask or crack any jokes about it. What Richie didn’t know wasn’t hurting him, but finding out certainly had the potential to tear him apart. 

“ _Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby, look at his godforsaken mess that you’ve made me…”_

“Hey Rich, I don’t mean to overstep here. I know we have this fun dynamic where we sort of pretend we don’t like each other.” Stan was lying beside Richie on the floor of Richie and Eddie’s once again empty apartment while the saddest Taylor Swift songs Richie could think of played in the background. Not quite as loud as they did when Richie was alone, but the message was clear nonetheless. It was Eddie's sixth date this month. “But have you ever thought about moving out?”

Richie reached for his phone blindly and quickly paused the music. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would I move out?”

“Uh maybe because you’re in love with your roommate and everytime he goes out on a date you curl up in a ball the entire time and it’s sucking the life out of you having to pretend you’re okay all the time?” Stan snapped then winced. Richie stared stubbornly at the floor. “Sorry, it’s just… It’s been a month, Richie, and if you’re serious about not telling Eddie how you feel-”

“My friendship with Eddie is more important than these stupid feelings.” Richie said firmly. “I can suck it up and be happy for him. He’s one of the most important people in my life, I won’t let some bullshit one sided crush get in the way of that.”

“That’s fine.” Stan said. “I’m not saying you should cut Eddie out of your life completely, that’s ridiculous. You’re both clearly important to one another, but I’m worried about you. You’re clearly really hurting and I don’t think staying here is what’s best for you right now. It’s making worse, always knowing when Eddie isn’t here, staying up to hear him get home, being crushed anytime he doesn’t… I’m not saying pack up your stuff and disappear tonight in the middle of the night but think about it, Richie. You can be friends with Eddie and give yourself the space you need to heal.”

Richie said nothing, hitting play on spotify and dropping back into the fetal position on the living room rug.

_And you know damn well for you I would ruin myself a million little times._

♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥

Richie had decided he was okay with Eddie seeing this guy, getting a little dick action. Everybody deserved to have those experiences, and Eddie had never given it a chance in college like everybody else did. Maybe it still hurt a little bit whenever Eddie went out and didn’t come until the morning, and there was the permanent ache in his chest all the time- but really! He was fine! Eddie was his best bro, his roommate. Richie needed to shut off that switch in his head that thought he and Eddie could have ever been together, let go of that stupid fantasy, and he wasn’t going to get there by running away and hiding like Stan had suggested. 

Maybe he was acting strange, he knew he’d closed himself off a little bit. He could see it in how he’d catch Beverly staring at him from the corner of her eye, how Eddie seemed to deflate whenever Richie brushed off his attempts to hang out. Patty sent him a text a week earlier to ask him why he’d listened to You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift for four hours straight and he’d ignored it, read receipts be damned. He really was fine, aside from how he wasn’t fine at all and wasn’t doing a good job at pretending he was.

“Are you mad at me?”

Richie nearly dropped the cartoon of milk. He quickly placed it back on the counter and turned to face Eddie who was sitting on their little kitchen table, looking very much like a kid ready to get lectured. “What the fuck are you talking about?” 

Eddie flushed slightly, and Richie realized then that Eddie’s hair had grown out over the last couple months. It now curled under his ears and Richie hated that it made his heart beat a little bit faster. “It’s just… we never do anything together anymore, half the time you don’t even answer my texts. Unless they’re about fucking… groceries or some shit. I can’t think of why you’d be blowing me off except that you’re pissed at me but I can’t think of what I did to make you angry.”

Richie sighed. “I’m not mad at you, Eds. I could never be.” He said truthfully. “You’ve just been so busy lately. I’ve been hanging around with Stan when I’m not working. It’s not that deep.”

“Yeah. Stan.” An odd shadow crossed over Eddie’s face but he plastered a smile on so quickly Richie felt he must have imagined it. “You guys have gotten really close lately.”

“Awe, Eds.” Richie reached out and ruffled Eddie’s soft curls. “Don’t be jealous. You’ll always be my best bro. Under Bev, of course.”

“Of course.” Eddie replied with a dry smile. “Well, do you want to go get lunch or something today? My lecture isn’t until 5 and I know you don’t work.”

Did he want to? Of course Richie wanted to. There was this sick little Eddie shaped hole inside of him that simply _yearned_ to get lunch with him. To just take a moment to push aside all the weirdness and pain of the last couple of months and just enjoy being in Eddie’s orbit. But the sick tension in his stomach reminded him how skillfully he’d been avoiding hearing any sort of details about the guy Eddie had been seeing, and if they went to lunch together he’d be trapped. 

“Oh, I don’t know, Eds…” Richie said slowly, rapidly racking his brain for any sort of pathetic excuse not to go. He was sure it was obvious on his face as the panic settled in. 

Eddie’s hand swung out and grabbed at his. “Come on, Rich.” He said, almost sounding close to pleading. “There’s a new panini place on campus, and I’ll use my student points to pay. You can’t pass this up.”

He should. Every logical bone in his body screamed at him not to, all sounding like the worst combination of Stan and Beverly- but Richie already knew he wouldn’t refuse. Couldn’t. Consequences be damned. Maybe Richie would find some stroke out luck, and nothing would go wrong. Just one lunch with his roomie. He’d told Stan that their friendship was more important than his romantic feelings and he’d meant it, even if he’d done a piss poor job of showing it lately. It was a hard balance to maintain and he was trying his best, even if his best wasn’t good enough.

The meal and trip went remarkably well, the two of them falling back into their easy and comfortable dynamic they’d always had. There was a difference, an obvious distance between them. Their elbows didn’t bush when they walked, the eye contact didn’t linger. They sat on opposite sides of the booth instead of squeezing in together while the other side stayed empty. Things that might not seem like anything to an outsider, but little things that left a sharp pain in Richie’s chest all while he knew it was necessary for his own sanity. 

“Do you remember last Hallowe’en?” Eddie asked him suddenly, reaching out and stabbing his plastic fork into one of Richie’s baby tomatoes and popping it into his mouth. 

Richie frowned. “Yeah, Eds. I wasn’t drunk enough that I blacked out the entire night.”

“We went as Alvin and Britney. You’re probably lucky you didn’t lose a ball to hypothermia.” Eddie laughed and Richie grinned at the memory of the tiny pink dress that barely covered his ass if he moved too suddenly and the fake sense of warmth that the alcohol had brought him despite Stan’s claims of blue lips. 

“I thought you were going to kiss me that night.” 

Richie choked on a baby tomato. It was only a split second before he was able to spit it back out onto the table and take a sharp wheezing breath, but dying on a tomato was almost preferable to whatever this conversation Eddie was trying to have. 

“Holy shit dude, are you okay?” Eddie reached across the table and grabbed Richie’s hand, which the other boy quickly shook off. “Didn’t think the idea of kissing me was so scary to you.”

It was so clearly a joke, but Richie’s throat was raw from choking and it sort of felt like he still was. He was horrified at that familiar burning behind his eyes that promised tears to come, and he desperately wanted out of this situation. “Nah, Eds.” Richie said, hoping the roughness in his voice could be written off by the near death experience and it didn’t sound like his sensitive ass was about to burst into tears. “I’m sure you’re a kissing master. What happens at a Hallowe’en party stays a Hallowe’en party.”

Eddie was frowning. “Are you and Stan dating? I’ve been trying to think of a good way to ask you but you’ve made yourself so scarce and-”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Richie stood up from the table and shook his head. “Is this some sort of ambush? I haven’t made myself _scarce,_ Eddie. You’re literally never home! Sorry I don’t sit around and wait for you, but that doesn’t mean Stan and I are _dating._ Some people aren’t too busy to make time for me once in a while, is that a crime now?”

Eddie slid down in the booth, glancing around with pink cheeks. People were staring, or pretending they weren’t whispering about them but Richie’s hands were shaking and four months of pent up emotions were flying out of him faster than he could even recognize them. “Richie, sit down…”

“No, fuck this shit. I’m leaving.” Richie shook his head. “Thank you for the surprise interrogation but I’m sure you could call up your little boyfriend and get him to make you feel better.”

It was low. Richie knew it was the moment the words touched his tongue but he couldn’t take them back and he didn’t know how much he wanted to. He was Trashmouth, after all, wasn’t he? This is what was expected of him. Dirty, stupid, Trashmouth with his foot constantly in his mouth and no forethought regard for other people’s feelings. 

Eddie jerked back like Richie had slapped him and it was momentarily satisfying even as it made his stomach tense with guilt. “Hey, fuck you! It’s not your business what I-”

“You’re right.” Richie said, feeling every inch of fight leaking out of him. “It’s _none of my business_ who you go out with or what you do. So why do you think it’s any of yours what I’m doing?”

Eddie opened his mouth and immediately shut it. He gave Richie a sad look, almost pathetically so, and Richie almost sat back down.

Almost.

♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥ ♡ ♥

Richie didn’t know how to be in a fight with Eddie. From the day they’d met, every argument they’d ever had was always resolved within a few hours, never worth staying mad at. But for whatever reason, Richie held onto his anger like a child with their baby blanket. He held it close to his chest, let it keep him warm when he otherwise felt cold and empty. The air in their apartment was tense, sharp like a knife ready to cut through whoever broke the silence. Richie swore that Eddie was purposely home more often now, almost as though the tension fueled him and he didn’t know that Eddie Kaspbrak was this petty. 

They still hung around with the other Losers, and they all knew something was wrong. They were kind enough not to say anything, but Richie could see them exchanging looks when Eddie didn’t sit beside him during movies and it was impossible to miss how they left and arrived apart even though they were going and coming from the same place.

Richie hadn’t spent this much time in his bedroom since he was 12 years old and going through that fun part of puberty where he thought his parents were the enemy. Coincidently, his mom was probably the only thing keeping holding onto some semblance of sanity through this. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her everything, but Maggie Tozier was a smart woman and she could fill in the blanks in any story. 

“I’m worried about you, Rich.” She said to him on the phone one night, which was a phrase he was really sick of hearing. “You’re just isolating yourself out there and you’re so far from home. I don’t want you to feel like you don’t have anybody to turn to out there.”

“I have friends, Momma.” Richie said softly. He was pretty sure his friends were tired of hearing about him and Eddie, and he knew he was pushing them away. They had their own lives, their own problems and Richie didn’t want to bother them with petty drama. He’d tried to save his friendship with Eddie and he’d only blown it all up. He didn’t want to make that anybody else’s problem, and it was hard when everybody was friends with Eddie, too. One misstep, somebody thinking Richie is making people pick sides, and he’d have no friends at all. Too risky.

“I want you to think about coming home, Rich.” Maggie said softly into the phone, and Richie groaned in response. “Don’t groan at me! Just for a little while! I don’t think you’re doing well out there, and your father and I miss you so. You barely even visit. Come home for a little bit. Couple of weeks, just until you get yourself back on your feet, baby.”

Richie let a low sigh. It wasn’t the worst idea that had been presented to him recently. Stan’s advice from the few months before moved through his head. _Have you ever thought about moving out?_ It had been a hell no then, Richie still desperate to save his friendship with Eddie. Now there wasn’t much friendship with Eddie to save. “I’ll think about it Momma, okay? This might all blow over and everything will be fine. Please don’t worry about me.”

“It’s my job to worry.”

“Okay.” Richie laughed slightly. “Well just don’t worry too much, I swear I’m fine.”

Richie said his goodbyes, and let himself out of his room and padded into the kitchen to rummage something to eat. He stopped dead in the doorway when he noticed Eddie in there, leaning across their counter and having an in depth conversation with some boy in basketball shorts and jersey. “Oh, uh, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” Eddie said, taking a small step away.

“Oh hey, bro, you must be Ricky.” Jersey boy said, holding his fist out that Richie pumped awkwardly with a cluck of his tongue. “Eds here has told me so much about you.”

Richie’s eyes jerked to look at Eddie despite himself, while Eddie quickly looked away and pursed his lips. “Oh? Can’t say I’ve had the same pleasure.”

The Jersey boy laughed. “I’m Jacob, Eddie’s boyfriend. Just made it official today. He’s quite the spit fire isn’t he?”

Richie hummed. “Oh yeah, _Eddie_ is something else.” He pushed past the two of them to open the cupboards, grabbing the first and easiest foods he could find. “You’ll have your hands full with that. Good luck, bro.”

Eddie made an annoyed noise from the back of his throat. “Are you going to movie night?”

“Haven’t missed one yet.” Richie said lightly. “Surprised to hear you’ll be there. First time in ages, yeah?”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “We’re both going. The others want to meet Jacob and the feeling is mutual. My _friends_ care about my relationships, they’re excited for me.” 

Jacob had pulled his phone out and was scrolling through it, somehow beautifully oblivious to tension that was swirling around the kitchen. 

_Have you ever considered moving out?_

_I want you to think about coming home, Rich._

“I’m going back to my parents’.”

Eddie blinked, every bit of hostility slipping from his face in a second. “Wh… Easter isn’t for a few weeks.”

“I’m not going back for Easter.” Richie said, grabbing one of the small apple juice boxes Eddie insisted on buying from the fridge. “I’m going to stay there for awhile, not really sure how long. Thought I’d let you know, so you could look into getting another roommate. ‘Know the place is pricey on your own.”

Eddie’s face paled and Richie watched him swallow harshly. The vindication Richie was expecting never came. He just felt tired. “I’m not sure what day they can come up and get my stuff but I’ll let you know when I do.”

Eddie didn’t call after him, didn’t move a muscle and Richie realized this was how friendships ended. Not with shouting or crying but with a simple last word and then ringing silence.


End file.
